Yes, you’ve guessed it. More book reviews. We’re getting there, although I keep reading, so it’s a bit of a catch-up. I recently came into contact with OnlineBookClub through a blog post and I’m intrigued (not that I need more books although one never knows what one might find out). I liked the sound of this book and well… here it is.

The 11:05 Murders (The Inspector Sheehan Mysteries Book 2) by Brian O’Hare

The 11:05 Murders (The Inspector Sheehan Mysteries Book 2) by Brian O’Hare

Three people are murdered on separate Tuesday evenings at precisely 11.05. Random clues point to random suspects, but too many questions remain unanswered. Why 11.05pm for each killing? Is there any connection between these deaths and a rape that occurred at Queen’s university twelve years before? What is the connection between the killings and Sergeant Stewart’s mystery informant? Who is the violent stalker who twice nearly kills Detective Allen? What is his connection, if any, to the murders? When one of his team is kidnapped, Inspector Sheehan has literally only minutes to make sense of these questions if he is to save his colleague’s life.

The first thing I thought after reading this book is: why isn’t Brian O’Hare better known in the crime writing world? This man is extremely talented, and his book a wonderful ‘whodunnit’ that left me guessing until the end. [Joseph Sousa, Crime-writer]

Head and shoulders above most mystery authors who are published today, Brian O’Hare deserves far wider recognition. You won’t regret purchasing his books.[CBT, Amazon Reviewer]

Brian O’Hare is an intelligent and compassionate storyteller who takes his chosen genre a decent literary distance beyond your average ‘whodunnit’.[Robin Chambers, author]

An explosive mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end, riddled with unseen surprises and breathless suspense! [Wesley Thomas, writer and blogger]

Brian O’Hare, MA, Ph.D., is a retired assistant director of a large regional college of further and higher education. Married, three children, ten grandchildren, one great-grandchild. He plays golf three times a week off a ten handicap and does a lot of voluntary work. Any writing he has previously done was academic…very much restricted to a very specific readership. Several articles in educational journals were followed by a number of book-length reports for the Dept. of Education and the University of Ulster.

He has also written an interesting biography of a man who daily performs amazing miracles of healing…The Miracle Ship. That is currently available in Amazon’s Kindle bookstore. Hopefully, those who read it will spread the word and write reviews to help John’s message to reach the hearts of many, many people.

Brian had a liver disease since childhood which resulted in him taking early retirement a number of years ago. In 2002 he had a liver transplant but is strong and healthy now. He continued to do academic writing well into his retirement and followed that with a memoir about his liver transplant, dealing with the physical, emotional and spiritual experiences that came from that period in his life (A Spiritual Odyssey, published by Columba Press, Dublin).

Recently he experienced a desire to write fiction. Hence Fallen Men. It is a story about three priests…but it is religious in much the same way Thornbirds was religious. He has also finished a second book. It’s quite different from Fallen Men… a detective mystery inspired by an old 14th century painting of the Last Judgement. It’s called “The Doom Murders”, and it is available on Kindle and in print. Brian’s publisher’s liked The Doom Murders so much that they commissioned a series. The second book in the series, “The 11.05 Killings”, has now been written. Obviously it features the same detectives as in The Doom Murders. The book is now going through the editing and formatting process by Crimson Cloak Publishing, a cover is being designed, and the book will be ready for publication early in 2016. The third book in the series, The Coven Murders, is currently being written.

To launch the print version of The Doom Murders, CCP asked Brian to write a couple of short stories, featuring Inspector Sheehan. These were originally intended to be Facebook games (i.e. a kind of ‘see the clues, guess the killer’ thing) but the publisher liked them so much that she has started a new line called Crimson Shorts. Brian’s two shorts ( a third will shortly have to be written to launch The 11.05 Killings) Murder at Loftus House and Murder at the Roadside Cafe are now available on Amazon in Kindle and print versions.

Also now available on Kindle (as well as print) is the story of Brian’s liver transplant and the growth in spirit he experienced as he waited for almost a year, not knowing if he was going to live or die. See: “A Spiritual Odyssey [Diary of an Ordinary Catholic]”

This police procedural novel, the second in The Inspector Sheehan Mysteries series, is set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and it has it all: mysterious murders, a complex set of suspects that will keep fans of the genre spinning the wheels of their brains, a fascinating backdrop that includes political and religious issues, secondary themes that are in everybody’s minds (police corruption, sexual harassment, domestic violence, rape, stalking, financial crisis…), a team of policemen made up of distinct and realistic individuals, great dialogue, detailed crime scene investigation, touches of humour and even a dab of romance.

The story is told in the third person and it is narrated from the point of view of a variety of characters (mostly members of the police team, although also some chapters by some of the suspects), but there are no sudden changes in viewpoint and it does not cause any confusion. Instead, the style of the storytelling helps create a puzzle where the reader has more clues than any of the given characters, but there are also delayed discoveries and many red herrings, so things aren’t quite as easy as one might initially think. Being able to share in the different characters’ opinions and motivations gives the reader a multifaceted view that increases the intrigue.

At the beginning of the story we have a female Sergeant Detective, Denise Stewart, join Sheehan’s team. She has been through a harrowing experience at her previous post that has made her defensive and suspicious. Despite that, it doesn’t take long for her to realise Sheehan’s team is different and she starts to relax. Unfortunately, other things start going on in her life that seem, initially, completely unrelated to the murder they are investigating, a rather gross and well-planned crime that took place on a Tuesday at, exactly, 11:05 pm. There are several lines of enquiry, a fragment of a cufflink that keeps popping up, suspects galore, assaults on one of the detectives (young and handsome Tom Allen, who has taken an interest in Stewart), and Sheehan has the feeling that he’s missing something. His famous intuition seems to be letting him down but…

This is the second book in the series and although I have not read the previous one, I had no difficulty getting into the story. This is a standalone book that can be enjoyed without having read the first one but after having read this one I hope to read more in the series.

This novel could serve as an illustration on how to write mystery and police procedural books. The writing is precise, with enough descriptions and fleshing out of the characters to make the readers recognise them and care for them, with clues masterfully shared throughout the book, with no extraneous details or anything that does not move the story forward included. Even seemingly innocuous or passing comments have a reason and the twists and turns of the story will have readers choosing and discarding numerous suspects, keeping them always on their toes. The pacing and timing of the reveals work very well. When I was getting close to the end, I kept stopping and trying to run all the clues in my head to see who the perpetrator was. I had my suspicions from the beginning but kept changing my mind as the story went. Ah, and the ending did not disappoint.

Both the murder being investigated and the detectives are interesting in their own right and readers will end up feeling a part of Sheehan’s team. The light and humorous moments alternate with tense and scary moments enhancing both. The local touches and references to locations and historical events (the troubles) make it particularly memorable and distinct. I recommend it to any readers who love police procedural mysteries with great characters and complex plots. A word of warning, due to the nature of the crime and to some of the other scenes, this is not a book for the faint-hearted and is definitely not a cozy mystery.

Thanks very much to the author and to OnlineBookClub for the discovery, thanks to all of you for reading and remember to like, share, comment and CLICK!

Oh, and just in case you want to explore OnlineBookClub, here is my review there.

I was born in Barcelona and have lived in the UK for many years now. I'm a writer, translator (English-Spanish and vice-versa) and I'm a medical doctor and worked in Forensic Psychiatry many years. I also have a BA and a PhD in American Literature and Film, and a Masters in Criminology. I've always loved books and apart from writing them I review them often.
I write a bit of everything, check my books for more information and my about page for links.
My blog is bilingual, English and Spanish.

Oh, Erika, this is a book club people can join and there are books available. I think you might get people asking for reviews but I’ve just joined, so this was a trial one (a very good book, though). I am forever getting requests for reviews but, unfortunately, I don’t have time to review all the books I am asked to. Even if I didn’t do anything else all day I wouldn’t manage. I hope you have a great week.

This sounds like a great read, even though I tend to avoid book in series.
As is usual for me, I immediately thought ‘TV drama series’. I hope the producers and buyers from the TV companies have read this review! Good luck to Brian with this new book. He should be pitching the rights!
Best wishes, Pete.

Thanks, Pete. This one worked perfectly even being a series. I think you’re right about the TV series angle too. I really enjoyed ‘The Fall’ set in Belfast. Oh, talking about that, I saw the Viceroy’s House yesterday and thought Gillian Anderson was fabulous there too (well, I can’t recall seeing her on anything where I thought she did a bad job). Have a great week.

I’m sure I heard her on the radio and she spends a fair amount of time here now. Yes. That was one of the good ones and I managed to catch it. These days I miss a lot of TV series with my comings and goings. 🙂

Thanks, Pete. I caught one of the episodes of Line of Duty and then realised the series had been going on for a while. I must try and see if I can catch up. I’ll keep my eyes open for Follow The Money. Sometimes I can manage to watch some of the series I’ve missed here when I’m in Spain. Thanks so much.

Hi Olga! Brian here. Thanks a million for your brilliant review of The 11:05 Murders. I was thrilled to read it. It was great to come across someone who ‘gets’ what I was trying to do. Thanks again. I really appreciate your kind and generous comments.

Thanks, Brian. I love reading and reviewing books and it’s a joy to be able to recommend books that people might not have heard of but are so worth it. I really enjoyed the novel, the characters and trying to guess who and why. I’m sure it won’t be the last of your books I’ll read. I hope you get the success you deserve.

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This is me!

I'm a writer, translator (English-Spanish and vice versa) and a forensic psychiatrist. I was born in Barcelona and moved to the UK in 1992 to train in psychiatry. After a few years I decided to go back to full-time education and completed a BA in American Literature at Sussex University (it included a year in Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts), and a PhD on 'the Films of David Mamet'. As I never tired studying I also did an MSc (Distance Learning) in Criminology and Criminal Justice (Leicester University). Now I've decided to try and focus on writing, translating and exploring interesting stuff.
I have written short stories, several novels including different genres and two series (one YA, one psychological thriller). I also review books and I am a member of several review groups. You can find more information about my writing following the links.
If you're an author who, like me, wants to reach more potential readers, talk to me about translations. I know how important it is to be in control and I understand how much you care about your books. Let's talk about it. I am in most places but for more information check:
My website/blog:
http://www.authortranslatorolga.com
And for older content:
http://OlgaNM.wordpress.com

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